Agricultural Development Resources

Development is a) a process of people learning to solve their own problems, b) sustainably. It means progressing from one problem to another. Agricultural development is possible in more ways and climates than people often think. - Roland Bunch

Please note that the links listed below may lead to additional resources which have not yet been added to this collection.

In the present global climate of food shortages and price increases in food and fuel, it is more important than ever that communities improve local, sustainable food production. This handbook is a preliminary resource to introduce to you methods and concepts in tropical agriculture, and to assist...

Agricultural Options forSmall-Scale Farmers features selected content from the first 100 issues of ECHO Development Notes, a quarterly technical bulletin targeted towards ECHO's international network of development workers. It is a book filled with practical options for helping resource-poor,...

1993-03-19 During the course of each year a number of individuals working in community development spend some days studying and planning at ECHO. In reality their felt need is not so much for a bit more knowledge (study), but for a project plan for how they are going to help local farmers. A number of such...

2006-10-20 Development is a) a process of people learning to solve their own problems, b) sustainably. It means progressing from one problem to another. Agricultural development is possible in more ways and climates than people often think.

2015-11-18 The cyclical relationship between agricultural development and human health can hinder or drive economic development. In this presentation, Dr. Hanson will explore the impacts of poor health on agricultural productivity and yield; and the inter-connected role of food scarcity and malnutrition on...

2014-04-20 There is no doubt in my mind that West African farmers want development if that means, among other things, more productive farming. Of course they would rather harvest seven than three sacks of sorghum per hectare. If that is so, why do so many choose not to engage in development projects that...

2013-10-20 This article challenges the long-held assumption that smallholder farmers are risk averse and delay land preparation and planting until they are assured of adequate rainfall, and that they inefficiently used the natural resources available to them. The author proposes that farming operations are...

2015-10-30 The word permaculture is mentioned with increasing frequency in speeches, books and magazine articles on sustainability and food security. What is permaculture? Is it a movement? A philosophy? Simply a set of design tools? In this article, I answer the above questions by looking at permaculture...

2015-04-30 Climate change is one of the greatest challenges currently facing humankind. It will increasingly impact rural small-scale farmers in developing countries, as well as agricultural practitioners partnering with them. Development workers will not only be increasingly asked to respond to emergencies...

2016-11-16 This presentation explores the benefits of linguistic and cultural sensitivity to increase the effectiveness and acceptability of agricultural development projects. Two examples of well-intentioned development projects, which failed for lack of cultural understanding, are cited – one a...

2016-11-16 Creation care is a unique way to better understand God and participate in his redemptive work in the world. Furthermore, while care of the environment may seem a secondary priority, those we seek to serve are particularly vulnerable to its degradation. Presenter:Since 1995, Scott Sabin has served...

2017-01-20 This publication is Chapter 1 of Agricultural Options for Small-Scale Farmers, a book filled with practical options for those working to assist small-holder farmers and urban gardeners in the tropics and subtropics, many of whom struggle to produce enough food to feed their families. How can we...

The international journal Rural 21 has dedicated more than 50 years to all topics surrounding rural development. Its ambition is to further those strategies and policies that strengthen rural areas of developing and newly industrialising countries and encourage their implementation. The journal...

2009-07-01 Throughout the world, and even in the United States, engineers are tackling the challenges of sustainable development and public health - challenges that engineers are uniquely qualified to address. Yet engineers working abroad on development projects often lack the knowledge and information to...

The view that a productive agriculture is critical for employment creation and poverty reduction is now widely shared within the development community. Yet, this has not always been the case. In the run up to the 2008 world food price crisis, many development practitioners, government officials...

The SDC Agriculture and Food Security Network provides a knowledge exchange platform for all development practitioners with links to the activities of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in the area of Agriculture and Food Security.Membershipis open to SDC staff and representatives...

The ACP-EU technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), theEuropean Commission, theEU Presidency, theACP Group,Concord, and other partners organizeregular development Briefing sessions in Brussels on key issues and challenges for rural development in the context of EU-ACP...

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a global research and learning organisation for equitable and sustainable change. In partnership with the University of Sussex, IDS is ranked first in the world for development studies by the QS University Rankings. We believe passionately that...

A group of scientists, farmers and staff from development organizations in Malawi and Tanzania put together an integrated curriculum onagroecology,climate change,nutritionandsocial equity. This training material was written in such a way that rural people with limited education can use it to...

The term “experience capitalization” refers to the process by which a specific project or programme (or “an experience” in general) is described and analysed, and from which lessons are identified, shared and used to improve development interventions. This is an iterative process that helps...

Sustainable Agriculture covers a wide range of topics: soil and water conservation, using organic matter to sustain soil fertility, pest management, cropping systems, livestock management, and many others. For agriculture to be sustainable, it must take into account not only the physical...

1998-01-01 Review ByMary McDonald, DVMon April 15, 2012 This is an excellent workbook and should be required reading for everyone who wants to go to developing countries and help in animal healthcare. The ideas are tried and true and very practical. I used this book as a resource as I taught animal health...

2017-01-20 What is extension? Traditionally extension has been an approach where information from researchers has been transferred to farmers through extension personnel. The information flow in that case was top down (from researchers to farmers). The assumption was that farmers lack knowledge and hence...

2011-01-19 Amazon Description : For more than 4,000 years, Asian farmers worked the same fields repeatedly without sapping the land's fertility and without applying artificial fertilizer! How they accomplished this miraculous feat is described by author Franklin Hiram King, a former official of the U.S....

1993-01-01 Amazon.com Description Rain forests are rapidly being cleared in the humid tropics to keep pace with food demands, economic needs, and population growth. Without proper management, these forests and other natural resources will be seriously depleted within the next 50 years. Sustainable...

2002-10-30 Amazon.com Description This book combines the concept, practice and application of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) in a comprehensive manner. The author views PRA as a means of opening up new ways of approaching various problems within the development process. He defines it as a growing body...

1992-03-10 Amazon.com Description This text examines the strategies and techniques of Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) in the tropics and analyzes the scientific principles behind them. The central aim of the book is to show development workers how they can assist small-scale farmers...

2015-01-01 Wayne G. Ganpat and Wendy-Ann P. Isaac Faculty of Food and Agriculture, The University of the West Indies St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago At present, a grave concern facing the Caribbean is the creation of sustainable food production systems. Over the past four decades, the increasing...

1997-06-25 Amazon.com Description Sustainable agriculture is not just a goal to be attained; it is an ongoing, dynamic process. Rather than a destination, it is a journey. At the present time, the vast majority of the world's agriculture is non-sustainable. If this self-destructive trend is allowed to...

1979-06-01 This manual is designed to assist those who plan and implement small-scale agricultural projects. By promoting awareness of environmental concerns, the manual can increase the development worker's ability to design projects that are both environmentally sound and potentially more sustainable....

2001-01-20 Amazon Description Many of the current controversies over globalization, intellectual property protection, biotechnology and the future of farming are played out in seed provision. This book examines seed management in traditional farming systems, reviews the history of formal plant breeding and...

2013-09-03 Amazon.com Description The earth is in great peril, due to the corporatization of agriculture, the rising climate crisis, and the ever-increasing levels of global poverty, starvation, and desertification on a massive scale. This present condition of global trauma is not "natural," but a result...

2017-08-31 This publication is Chapter 7 of Agricultural Options for Small-Scale Farmers is a book filled with practical options for those working to assist small-holder farmers and urban gardeners in the tropics and subtropics, many of whom struggle to produce enough food to feed their families. How can we...

2017-08-31 This publication is Chapter 8 of Agricultural Options for Small-Scale Farmers is a book filled with practical options for those working to assist small-holder farmers and urban gardeners in the tropics and subtropics, many of whom struggle to produce enough food to feed their families. How can we...

Helping farming families increase production in a sustainable way, and sell more crops, is the most effective way to reduce hunger and poverty over the long term. When farmers grow more food and earn more income, they are better able feed to their families, send their children to school, provide...

Outreach is one of the information dissemination strategies of Biovision Farmer Communication Programme. The goal of our outreach is to provide a one–stop information and knowledge hub for farmers in their localities. FCP Outreach has 22 field staff based in 13 resource centres in several regions...

2012-08-20 In many African countries, women are relegated to the periphery of the decision-making ladder on important issues such as access to land and other productive resources. This traditional legacy resulted in an unequal structure of society and unequal distribution of resources. In Zimbabwe,...

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ECHOcommunity.org is the online collaborative membership community of ECHO, an international nonprofit organization. ECHO exists to reduce hunger and improve lives through agricultural training and resources. Working through regional impact centers around the world ECHO connects small-scale farmers, and those working to eliminate world hunger, with essential resources, and each other. These resources include a vast knowledgebase of practical information, experienced technical support and an extensive seed bank focused on highly beneficial underutilized plants.